


Why Mince Pies Should Have an Elf and Safety Warning

by Clea2011



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Elves, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Reindeer, Winter Knights 2018, santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 04:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17073569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clea2011/pseuds/Clea2011
Summary: In which Merlin is one of Santa's elves and mince pies are dangerous distractions, particularly when they're guarded by handsome visions of perfection.It's not a good idea to stop and gaze at the pretty blond man when you're supposed to be helping deliver presents to children all over Camelot and only have a ten second delivery slot at each house...





	Why Mince Pies Should Have an Elf and Safety Warning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tari_Sue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tari_Sue/gifts).



> Written for the 2018 Winter Knights Fest for Tari_Sue's prompt: "Merlin is an Elf who misses the sleigh on Xmas Eve and gets left behind because he got distracted staring at the pretty blond man sleeping on the sofa. Now he has to get back to the North Pole, but that would mean leaving Arthur behind."
> 
> Thanks to C and L and P for betaing and cheerleading and generally being lovely <3

Merlin was an elf.

Strictly speaking, he was half an elf. His father, Balinor, was an elven reindeer lord who had fallen in love with the human farmgirl who tended the beasts throughout the year. It had been a scandalous thing at the time, apparently, but Merlin’s mother was a gentle soul who had fitted in well with the elven way of life. Gradually she had been accepted.

Merlin didn’t feel accepted.

At Elf School he’d been singled out and picked on for his rather small ears that didn’t even have a proper point on them like the other elves. He was also taller than most elves (being the son of a reindeer lord didn’t help there either as they had a tendency to be tall as well). And instead of the delicate movements that all elves seemed to be able to carry off effortlessly, Merlin was clumsy. Horribly, disastrously clumsy.

It had led to him being thrown out of most of the elf training courses that he’d tried to attend once he’d reached maturity. He was far too noisy to work with the wood elves. Apparently his big feet and talkative nature (plus the whole being clumsy thing) scared off all the woodland creatures and disturbed the balance of nature. The river elves had taken him under their wing for a while, but that had been impossible because of the unfortunate fact that Merlin couldn’t swim. Or, he could, but his half-human physiology meant that he couldn’t hold his breath underwater for hours on end like the river elves. He’d nearly drowned several times. So that was a disaster and broke all the elf and safety regulations.

He’d then tried to learn chemistry so that he could go into medicine, or even elven weapon manufacture (although that didn’t really appeal very much). But Merlin wasn’t very good at chemistry.

One day he would be a reindeer lord like his father, but unfortunately his powers in that area wouldn’t be inherited until his father died. And his father was extremely healthy, and elves lived for centuries. And Merlin didn’t particularly want his dad to die. So that was a non-starter. He was running out of options.

And so, finally, Merlin was sent to Lapland to work with Santa’s elves.

Santa’s elves were generally very good at magic, very quick and very pleased with themselves. Merlin was very good at magic, which was at least one of the three requirements. But he wasn’t quick, and some of the other elves soon noticed this.

“Hurry up, Merlin!” became a familiar cry across Santa’s workshops.

Merlin was not looking forward to his first Christmas helping with present delivery. He knew that none of the other elves wanted him on their sleigh, and he didn’t want to be there either. Merlin could not wait for New Year. Because by then he would have suffered whatever humiliation was coming, and would probably have been moved on to another career. Although he wasn’t sure which careers were left for an apparently unemployable half-elf. He’d tried most of them.

Santa, who was a kindly old soul for the most part, did at least try to play to Merlin’s strengths. He found Merlin a position in the Friends Forever department, helping put a tiny piece of magical love into the heart of every soft toy that would go out to children that Christmas. Merlin was actually very good at this, although he got a little bored after the first thousand or so. Once, he got so bored that he overdid the love magic on one particularly cute stuffed bear and found that he couldn’t bring himself to give it up. He only had himself to blame for that. Santa just raised one of his super-expressive eyebrows, shook his head and told Merlin to keep the bear. It was only a very small one and fitted nicely in his pocket. Sometimes Merlin thought that it was his only friend. The other elves were generally quite mean to him. Especially Cenred and Val.

However, that aside, it was much better than any other job Merlin had attempted. But Christmas was looming on the horizon, getting closer and closer…

Suddenly it was only a few weeks away, and all Santa’s elves were busy undergoing delivery training. Contrary to popular belief amongst humans, a huge number of sleighs went out on Christmas night (because really, one sleigh for the whole world? That would be silly, wouldn’t it?). All except one were filled with elves, and one of those elves would be dressed in a red suit just in case anyone saw them.

The sleighs all had their own routes and schedules according to the number of elves on board. The sleigh would stop, the elves would all magic themselves into the house, drop the gifts off, pick up any goodies left for Santa, then magic themselves back onto the sleigh. They had just ten seconds to do that, or risk being left behind.

Merlin could barely make it in thirty seconds during the first week of training. He was down to eighteen by the end of the second week, and eleven by week three. Only on the very last day before Christmas Eve did he manage to do the run in 9.51 seconds.

It didn’t bode well.

Christmas Eve arrived, and the army of sleighs were loaded up with presents for children all over the world. Merlin hung back a little, hoping that there would be too many elves and that he wouldn’t have to go after all. Unfortunately, Santa liked Merlin.

“Come along young Merlin,” the jolly old gentleman urged, slapping him on the back. “Let’s get you on a sleigh! Here, what about this one?”

The sleigh that Santa had chosen was one that Merlin absolutely would not have wanted to get on even if he was the best and fastest Santa Elf in the world. It was headed for Camelot so was going to be busy, but that wasn’t the problem. No, the problem was that the elf in charge of that sleigh was Cenred, and he was the meanest and nastiest of the bully elves. Aside from his great friend Valiant, who of course had also got onto that particular sleigh.

“You’ll look after Merlin, won’t you Cenred?” Santa called. “He’s very good with the bears, we don’t want to lose him!”

“Of course, Santa,” Cenred smiled winningly. At least, he did as long as Santa was standing there. As soon as their boss was gone he glared at Merlin. “Even be half a second late and I’ll leave you behind! I’m not missing my quota because of some half-breed freak!”

Merlin nodded nervously, and sat down at the back of the sleigh as far from Cenred as possible. He hung on tight as the sleigh rose up into the air, and then just tried to enjoy the ride because it was a long way to Camelot. But the only thing that he could think of was that because he was bound to run over his time limit at some point that night and get left behind he might never find his way home again.

In fact, the deliveries weren’t too bad at first and were easier than they had been during training. Merlin realised that training had been extra-hard just to get all their speed up. He relaxed very, very slightly.

Before each street they were all allocated a house, and given the presents to deliver. It was like a little routine. Number 46 – Ryan and Olivia, been mostly good except that little hiccup around October-time. The routine was simple enough. Magic yourself into the house, drop the presents, make the milk vanish and take the cookie being careful to leave a crumb behind. Back to the sleigh and the next street. Number 22 this time – Amy, very naughty most of the year but presents anyway. No treats left for Santa from that little minx, unsurprisingly. Leave and the sleigh went on to the next street. Number 5…

And so it went on. They were halfway through their route and Merlin had once or twice not even been the last one back. He was doing very well. Santa was going to be proud.

At the latest street, Merlin was allocated number 17. This was Mordred who had been fairly good but had a very sad year. Lost his grandfather and his dad had walked out on his mum. Extra present. Merlin was confident now and sent himself into the living room of his allocated house.

_One second._

There was the tree, some presents already underneath it. Someone was asleep on the sofa, but that wasn’t a problem as long as Merlin didn’t wake them up.

_Two seconds._

Merlin quickly put his presents down with the others.

_Three seconds._

There was a glass of whisky by the hearth, along with a very delicious-looking mince pie. Oh, and a carrot for the reindeer. That was nice, lots of kids forgot about the reindeer.

_Four seconds._

Merlin picked up the pie and pondered for a moment. It really did look tasty. And Cenred was eating anything good that was brought back to the sleigh. It wouldn’t reach Santa. Cenred would enjoy the whisky too but he wouldn’t be getting that if Merlin could help it.

_Five seconds._

It wouldn’t hurt to eat the pie. Merlin was quite hungry, having been too nervous earlier to eat any dinner.

_Six seconds._

His mouth full of delicious pie, Merlin pocketed the carrots and pondered what to do about the whisky. Strictly speaking he should just evaporate it and leave a tiny drop in the bottom. But that seemed such a waste, especially if it was as good as the pie.

_Seven seconds._

Picking up the glass, Merlin winced as it clunked against the stone of the hearth. Nervously he quickly glanced towards the sofa to see if he had disturbed the person sleeping there.

_Eight seconds._

Merlin froze. For there on the sofa, fast asleep, was the most beautiful man he’d ever set eyes on. He was tall and handsome, with hair so blond it seem like a golden crown on his head. Yet in sleep he looked so sad.

_Nine seconds._

Merlin took a step closer, just to get a better look. He’d never see the man again, and it wouldn’t hurt, not just for a moment…

Something crunched, loudly, beneath his foot. Merlin looked down in horror to see that he’d stepped on some sort of dragon toy which was now clicking and whirring noisily. He silenced the toy with his magic in a panic, then prepared to travel back to the sleigh before it left.

“Who the hell are you?”

A strong hand had reached out and grabbed him by the wrist, holding him firmly. Merlin wriggled, trying to free himself. But the man on the sofa was wide awake, and on his feet. He was even more handsome up close, had the bluest eyes and smelled so very good. He was also very angry.

“I’m calling the police! What kind of scumbag breaks into a house on Christmas Eve?”

Merlin hadn’t quite managed to finish the pie so couldn’t answer, and was still holding the incriminating glass of whisky.

“Oh my god, you’ve even taken Santa’s pie! And that’s my best Scotch! I was going to drink the rest of that!”

Really? Merlin suddenly felt a wave of indignation on the part of his kindly boss. “That was for Santa!” he exclaimed, showering the vision of loveliness in pastry crumbs. “You can’t drink it!”

“You ate his pie! And…” the man caught sight of the green leaves drooping out of Merlin’s pocket. “You took Rudolph’s carrots!”

“Rudolph isn’t on my sleigh,” Merlin told him. Honestly, Rudolph had been put out to stud years ago, why did everyone still think he was leading the Christmas flight? “And Kilgharrah’s been piloting Santa’s sleigh for years now!”

The man’s lovely blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Are you on something? Yes, you must be… my god, what are you wearing?”

Merlin was wearing the uniform of Santa’s elves. It was green, as was tradition, although it had been modernised in recent times and the shoes with bells had been replaced with more practical (and quiet) green trainers. Also there was no longer a silly hat, just a green baseball cap to match the green hoodie and joggers that they all wore. All very modern. Also very practical, especially for elves who got left behind and had to find their own way back to Lapland.

Merlin knew he would have been left behind.

He didn’t even need to go out and check because Cenred would have taken great pleasure in driving off without him. If only Merlin hadn’t stopped to look at the handsome (and now very angry) man.

“Is it St Patrick’s Day or something?”

“It’s Christmas Eve,” Merlin explained. “I’m an elf. And you’ve made me miss my sleigh.”

“An elf?” The man looked Merlin up and down, and then gave a little laugh. “Seriously? You really are on something. But an elf… well that would explain those huge ears!”

Merlin touched his ears self-consciously, wondering if perhaps they had suddenly grown to their proper size. But no, they felt just as small and round and human-shaped as ever.

“They’re tiny,” Merlin protested, disappointed.

The man just raised an eyebrow at him. It reminded him a bit of Santa. If Santa was young and cute and fit anyway.

“I have to go,” Merlin sighed. “It’s a long way back to Lapland. It was nice to meet you,” he added, because his mum told him to always be polite. “I’m Merlin by the way.”

“I’m Arthur… No, wait! I’m not introducing myself as if we’re friends or something! You broke into my sister’s house!”

Arthur was a lovely name. Arthur and Merlin… that had a really good ring to it. Merlin just beamed happily at him. “Hello Arthur! I didn’t break in. Like I said, I’m an elf, we have magic. Look!”

And he vanished into thin air, rematerializing on the other side of the room.

Arthur gazed at him in shock, and then sat down very quickly on the sofa. “I’m dreaming. No, it was the shot of whisky earlier. I shouldn’t have drunk it. Or the shock. It’s delayed shock. Oh god, it’s like Morgana said, I really am having a breakdown. I’m going to ruin Mordred’s Christmas by getting totally off my face and ranting and raving all day. I’ll be the mad uncle. I shouldn’t have come. It’s too soon. Oh god…” He put his head in his hands.

“You’re not any of those things,” Merlin told him helpfully. “I really am an elf! You weren’t supposed to wake up and see me. I was just delivering gifts for Mordred and then you looked so sad and I was too slow and then you woke up and… and…” – he spread his hands hopelessly – “I’ve been left behind!”

“Stop talking to me! Hallucinations aren’t supposed to talk!” Arthur hissed at him. He looked up, saw Merlin was still there, and put his head back down into his hands. The way that was ruffling up his hair was quite adorable.

Merlin had never really found any of the other elves particularly attractive. Mostly that was down to their vastly obnoxious behaviour towards him. But also he had never seen an elf so tall and blonde. Even though Arthur was sitting down Merlin could see that they were probably the same height. Merlin had always felt so awkward and out of place with the other elves. And he’d certainly never looked at any of them and felt as if one of his magical love spells had been cast on his own heart instead of one of the stuffed toys in Santa’s workshop.

“I’m really not a hallucination,” Merlin told him gently, sitting down on the sofa beside him. “And I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“Scared me?” Arthur exclaimed indignantly, looking up again. That was a good thing, as it meant Merlin could gaze at his rather gorgeous blue eyes again. “You didn’t scare me! Look, it’s Christmas, why don’t you just turn out your pockets and leave whatever you’ve stolen from here, then I’ll let you go and pretend I never saw you. How did you get in? I’ll need to fix it if you’ve broken anything, I don’t want my sister and nephew upset in the morning.”

That was really very kind-hearted. Merlin smiled at him. “You’re really lovely. I bet you got loads of extra presents from Santa when you were a kid.”

Arthur rolled his eyes.

“But I didn’t break in or steal anything,” Merlin continued. “Like I showed you, I have magic.” He reached down to pick up the dragon that he’d stepped on. It was cracked all across the neck.

“That’s one of Mordred’s favourite toys,” Arthur sighed. “Give it to me, I’ll see if I can find some glue and mend it before he sees.”

“No need,” Merlin explained. He summoned up a little magic, because mending a piece of plastic really wasn’t so hard, then handed Arthur the now intact dragon. “There.”

Arthur looked at the dragon, then at Merlin, then back at the dragon. Very carefully he put the dragon down on the floor, moving his feet as far away from it as he could. “What did you do? How did you do that?”

“Magic! Like I said!” It was actually getting a little wearing. Arthur might be pretty but he didn’t seem to catch on that fast. “I’m an elf!”

“But… magic’s not real! And elves aren’t real and even if they were they have pointed ears and yours aren’t really… well, they’re not. You’re not. Is this a wind-up? If this is something Gwaine’s set up it’s really not funny.”

“I don’t know Gwaine. But honestly, I am an elf. Look, I left gifts from Santa.” Merlin gestured towards the brightly-coloured packages under the tree.

“Those weren’t there earlier,” Arthur noted. “Ah! You’re one of those charity nutters who… who… I don’t know what! But they leave presents!”

“Charity nutters that leave presents and can do magic?” Merlin wondered. His knowledge of human culture was fairly good thanks to his mum but he’d never heard of that particular charity. “Is there such a thing?”

“Yes! You!”

“Elf, as I keep telling you. Well, half-elf actually. My dad’s an elf, my mum’s human. That’s why my ears are so small and why I’m tall and I’m not very good at elf things and now I’ve been left behind. I’m not a charity. I probably _need_ a charity. Is there one for rehoming displaced elves? Sometimes it takes months for them to get back I’ve heard.”

“Can’t you just teleport back there with your magic?”

“Teleport?”

“Whatever you call it. Disappear and then reappear somewhere else. Did you use floo powder like Harry Potter?”

“No! It’s just travelling, we don’t call it anything. But I can only do short distances. And it’s tiring. I’ve done a lot of houses tonight. I don’t have anywhere to stay and I’ve never been out in the human world by myself before and it’s cold outside without the sleigh and I just want to go home.”

To his horror, he could feel himself welling up. Arthur was not going to be impressed if Merlin started crying. So Merlin quickly pulled out his little bear and pressed his face against it, hoping that he could compose himself.

“Are you okay?” Arthur asked gently.

Merlin shook his head, but didn’t look up. The bear smelled of home and warm things and made him forget for a moment that he was lost and alone in a strange land. But only for a moment.

“Merlin, are you crying?”

He was. Just a little bit. Arthur sighed, and then Merlin felt a strong, warm arm go around his shoulders.

“Merlin, it’s Christmas. Look, I’m obviously not going to get any sleep tonight, so why don’t I drive you home? Your real home, not Lapland.”

There was just no convincing Arthur. Merlin knew he was going to get into a lot of trouble for what he was about to do, but if he didn’t do it then they were going to go round in circles all night. He got his phone out.

“Hah!” Arthur laughed on seeing it. “Whoever heard of an elf carrying a mobile?”

“Of course we have mobiles,” Merlin grumbled. “That would be mad if we didn’t. Like you lot invent something like this and think you’ll keep it for yourselves? No way! Now look at my pictures.”

He scrolled through the first one or two which were of Christmas decorations that he’d particularly liked in people’s houses earlier that night, and then handed Arthur the phone.

Arthur peered at the picture. “What’s this?”

“The view of Camelot from the sleigh. Can’t you recognise it?”

Arthur frowned. “It does look like Camelot. But that could be from anything.”

“Swipe on through.”

There were other pictures, he knew. Ones of the elves on the sleigh, of Cenred glaring at him. And then beyond that ones from back home of his parents with the reindeer, his dad proudly leading the herd out for their annual flight. Arthur didn’t say anything, just kept flicking through. Eventually he handed the phone back to Merlin.

“That would be a very elaborate hoax,” he admitted.

“So now you believe me?”

Arthur shrugged. “I don’t know what I believe. But… Yes. Okay, if I’m going insane then I might as well just go with it. I believe you, Merlin.”

Merlin beamed at him happily. “Finally!”

“And I’ll help you get home. I’ll drive you to the airport if we can get you a ticket back to Lapland.”

“Really?” Merlin could hardly believe his luck. “But it’s probably a really long way and the ticket’s going to cost a fortune.”

Arthur laughed a little bitterly. “Well money isn’t something I’m exactly short of. I suppose I now have my own company and half of god knows what else,” he sighed, and unlocked his own phone, tapping away at it busily. “My father died a month ago. He was a very rich man. My sister and I inherited his businesses and property. It’ll take a while for the will to all to go through properly but I’d been working with him before he died so I’ve just been trying to keep it all together since. Morgana’s been dealing with a messy divorce so running the companies has mostly fallen on me. They’re doing okay, but it’s a lot of work.”

“I’m sorry you’ve lost your dad,” Merlin told him, remembering poor little Mordred’s sad story and extra gifts. “Money isn’t everything.”

“Thank you. No, it isn’t,” Arthur agreed. “Ah, I’ve found an airport that does flights to Lapland.”

Merlin could hardly believe his luck. He’d run into the kindest man in Camelot, surely.

“Thank you for helping me,” Merlin said. It seemed vastly inadequate.

“Hmm… well you can tell Santa I’ve been a good boy or something. Anyway, the business has closed over the Christmas break. The idea was for Morgana and me to try to just relax together and make little Mordred’s Christmas as much fun as possible. And look at me…”

Merlin did. Arthur was very easy on the eyes, after all.

“… I fell asleep on the sofa instead of even bothering to go to bed. He’s lucky I didn’t down all the rest of that whisky as well. At least now I can drive you because I only had one shot and it was hours ago. Come on,” Arthur got to his feet and waited for Merlin to follow.

“What, now?” Merlin stared up at him. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

“I’ve found you a flight. It goes in three hours. May as well just go there and buy a standby, it’s not as if they’ll get a rush at this time of night!”

Merlin got up, rather sad to be leaving Arthur so soon. But it wasn’t as if he could stay there in the human world. He had to go back home and muddle along, doing a bad job of whatever he put his hand to until some far-distant day when he inherited his reindeer lord powers. Also there was the risk that he might be rubbish at that too. And then there would be _real_ problems.

“You’re really kind,” Merlin told Arthur very sincerely. “I’ll make sure you get a present too next year if I’m on this route.”

Arthur rolled his eyes at that. “Honestly Merlin, I don’t need any soft toys!”

He probably did, though, Merlin thought, remembering how sad Arthur had looked when Merlin had first seen him. Arthur probably needed a bear with extra love. He probably needed it more than Merlin. After all, Merlin would be able to make another one for himself.

“You should have this,” Merlin insisted, passing over his bear. “As a present.”

He saw the moment when the warmth of the love spell touched Arthur’s heart. A smile played around his mouth, softening his features.

“Thank you, Merlin,” Arthur held the little bear for a moment, then reluctantly put it down on the sofa where he’d been sleeping. The spell had that sort of effect. It was quite difficult for Merlin not to snatch it back up again, but Arthur definitely needed it more. “He can sit here and keep me company when I get back.”

Merlin glanced longingly one last time at his little ex-companion, then followed Arthur out into the hallway, waiting while Arthur put on his coat.

“Do you need to borrow a coat or something?” Arthur queried, looking at Merlin’s green outfit. “It’s cold out there.” Without waiting for an answer he handed Merlin a thick hoodie from the rack. “Sorry it’s a bit old and tatty, I keep it here for when Morgana has me doing chores for her. It’s that or one of her coats!”

“This is fine,” Merlin assured him. It was warm and smelled very slightly of Arthur. Perhaps Arthur would forget that Merlin had it, and Merlin could wear it home and keep it as a reminder of the kind and extremely pretty human.

Arthur opened the front door and the cold air outside immediately hit them. Quickly they went out and Arthur closed the door behind them.

“Morgana will kill me if I let the house get cold,” Arthur smiled. “Honestly, you were lucky it was me on the couch and not her!”

Merlin thought so too. He turned away so that Arthur wouldn’t see the blush that he knew was colouring his face. And that was when he saw the big pile of presents in the garden.

“What’s that?” Arthur asked. He followed Merlin over to the gifts. “Are these more from your lot?”

They did look familiar. With a growing feeling of trepidation, Merlin picked up the note that was lying on the top of the pile, weighed down by a large piece of coal.

_Dear Merlin_

_You are the world’s worst elf. If you think we’re delivering your share of the gifts you’ve got another think coming. Better get these done before dawn or you’ll be fired… if you haven’t been already._

_Happy Christmas_

_Cenred_

“What?” Arthur had been reading over Merlin’s shoulder but then took the note from him to read it again. “This is the guy who drove off and left you, I presume?”

Merlin nodded, looking sadly at the pile. There had to be thirty or more presents there. Each one had a label on it, and he knew they would all be for different households. He’d never find them in time, let alone carry them all. And worst of all, those poor kids wouldn’t get their presents.

“I have to try to deliver these,” he explained. “You should go back to sleep because I’m not going to get it done in time for any flight.”

Arthur was already picking up an armful of presents.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you! You can’t do this without transport. I’m your transport. So, let’s see how many we can get delivered. This one… that’s the next street. Go and do that one, I’ll look at these and work out the fastest route, then we’ll use my sat nav and find them all.”

Merlin stared at him.

“Go!” Arthur urged. “Do the magic thing! It’s only a short distance. I’ll sort our route.” He was smiling happily and Merlin realised Arthur was actually pleased to be doing this.

The house took three magical hops, which was longer than he would usually go for. Arthur was still working out the route when Merlin got back. A few minutes later he had arranged all the gifts in order in the boot, then they were off.

“42 Gatling Street,” Merlin read from the label of the first present. Arthur started up the car, punched the address into the sat nav, and they were off. Arthur was probably breaking every speed limit but the roads were empty and he seemed to be a pretty good driver so Merlin didn’t protest.

“This is great!” Arthur exclaimed delightedly at the third house. “I’m Santa!”

Merlin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Arthur was helping, after all.

It was a slick routine. At each house Merlin vanished inside, dropped off the gift, and was back outside the car in seconds. There was no time to waste so he didn’t bother with the food for Santa or anything. Then he would hop back into the car.

In the meantime Arthur had grabbed the next present and was punching in their address as Merlin returned. Thirty two presents gradually dwindled down to twenty, then twelve, then eventually they had got to the last two.

Merlin glanced at the clock on the car dashboard as he prepared to magic himself into the second-to-last house. Nearly 6am. A few households that they passed were starting to have lights on where excited children were waking up ready to celebrate Christmas whether their parents liked it or not. The house he was going into was thankfully still in darkness. He dropped the present off and went straight back to the car. Arthur was just getting back into the driving seat, the final gift in his hands.

“Last one,” Arthur smiled, handing Merlin the gift. “Almost done.”

Merlin had got the hang of the sat nav by now as well. He typed in the address of their last destination as Arthur started up the engine.

“Only three streets away,” Merlin assured Arthur. There were more and more lights coming on in various houses now though. “We’ll make it!”

But when Arthur turned the corner into Eliot Close, and stopped outside number 4, Merlin could see the lights were on in one of the upstairs rooms.

“We’re too late,” Arthur sighed.

A second light went on upstairs, and then the one in the hallway.

Merlin gripped the gift tightly, not sure what to do. The elves were all supposed to make absolutely sure they weren’t spotted going into the houses. Though of course he’d already broken that particular rule with Arthur earlier. But that was different, that was Arthur. Merlin tried not to examine just _why_ it was different, but he knew that it was. Arthur was special.

“You could put it through the letterbox?” Arthur suggested.

“That wouldn’t be very magical. Oh Arthur, this will be the one child in all Camelot with no gift from Santa!” The thought of it was just awful. Merlin felt a small tear escape and trickle down his cheek.

Arthur stared at it for a moment, reaching up as if he was about to wipe it away. Then he seemed to think better of it and looked towards the house. “Don’t worry, Merlin. I’ve got an idea.”

“I could just try going in really fast,” Merlin suggested. “Er… what are you doing?”

Arthur had turned the engine off and was undoing his seatbelt. “I have a plan,” he said happily. “I’ll distract them, while you hop in with the present.”

“How are you going to do that?” Merlin asked, but Arthur was already out of the car and heading up the path to the front door.

“Come on Merlin,” Arthur called.

Merlin scrambled out of the car and followed Arthur, then quickly hid when Arthur rang the doorbell.

“Arthur!” Merlin hissed, but Arthur was smiling happily.

And then the door opened and Arthur suddenly looked terribly sad.

“I am _so_ sorry to bother you so early,” Arthur told the woman who had answered the door. “It’s just that I saw your lights on and…” he paused, and gave a little sniff.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked.

“Yes, yes, it’s just that this is my first Christmas since my wife and I divorced, and she’s moved down here with my son and I can’t find their street and the battery’s gone on my mobile and my sat nav is just _rubbish_ …”

Yes, of course Arthur would have a wife and son, even a pretend one. Merlin’s heart sank as he imagined what Arthur’s dream Christmas would be like. It wouldn’t be with someone like Merlin. How could Merlin have ever thought otherwise? Merlin stood there listening and watching, forgetting that he was supposed to be delivering the present. Then Arthur made a shooing motion with his hand and Merlin remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Quickly he hopped into the house, put the gift under the tree, and got out as fast as he could. Arthur was still doing his sob story about not wanting to miss his son’s Christmas but the kind lady was lapping it up and directing him to the address just a few streets away now. Her own son was peering curiously at Arthur. They seemed a nice family and Merlin was pleased that they hadn’t missed out on a gift from Santa.

Arthur was thanking the family profusely, and wishing them a merry Christmas, so Merlin hopped back into the car and waited for him to return.

Somehow Arthur had managed to not only get directions but a couple of warm and very tasty mince pies into the bargain. He handed one to Merlin when he got back into the car.

“Did you make the drop?” he asked.

Merlin nodded around a mouthful of his second mince pie of the night. He didn’t try to speak this time. Arthur’s car was quite posh and he probably wouldn’t appreciate having crumbs all over it.

“So I guess we’re done,” Arthur continued. “But it’s almost morning. I think you’d better come home with me and we’ll get you on a flight after Christmas. You’ll have to pretend to be an old friend or something.”

“Maybe a friend of your wife’s?” Merlin sighed.

“I don’t have a wife,” Arthur laughed. “Was I that convincing? Maybe I should go into acting!”

“But you’d like a wife,” Merlin pointed out.

Arthur started up the engine, and looked sad again. “I’d like my own family. But I’d prefer a husband to share my life with. Does that shock you?” he glanced at Merlin worriedly. “Do boy elves have husbands?”

“Some do.”

“You?”

“I’d like one,” Merlin admitted. “But I’m half-human. The other elves don’t like me.”

“The other elves don’t sound too pleasant,” Arthur commented as they headed out onto the main road. “They leave you behind, they leave presents meant for little kids out in the cold, they don’t like you because you’re a bit different. I thought Santa’s helpers were supposed to be kind.”

“I’m not very good at being an elf,” Merlin admitted sadly. “When I get home I’ll probably have to change jobs again. Santa’s tried really hard to help me but I just don’t fit in. I don’t know where I’ll be put next.”

Arthur was quiet for a few minutes after that, just driving and eating the rest of the mince pie.

“It seems unfair,” he said finally. “You’ve just worked really hard to get those presents to all those kids.”

“You did too!”

“We’re a great team!” Arthur agreed. “Look, we’re almost home. I’ll find you something to change into because that much green is a bit too St Patrick’s Day for Christmas, and then we can make my nephew and sister breakfast and just all try to have the best Christmas we can. Are you up for that?”

Merlin nodded happily. He felt so lucky that Arthur had been the one who had found him. But he knew he couldn’t let himself get too fond of the man because as soon as Christmas was over Merlin would have to go home and would never see Arthur again. He glanced at the man beside him, drinking in the golden hair and sculpted features. Arthur was perfect, and also looked a lot happier now than he had when Merlin had first seen him sleeping on the sofa.

“I’ll make elf toast,” Merlin promised. “Mordred will love it!”

“I don’t know what that is but I’m going to love it too!” Arthur declared. He turned on the car radio, and immediately Christmas songs started blaring out. They didn’t have to be quiet now, after all, so they started to sing along.

And then they turned the corner into Morgana’s street and all their plans fell apart.

“What the hell..?” Arthur began. He stopped the car, and stared at the vehicle in front of him.

It was a large sleigh, with a huge reindeer harnessed to the front of it. Driving the reindeer was a dark-haired, bearded elf who was waving cheerily to Merlin.

“That’s my dad,” Merlin groaned. “It’s the main sleigh. Oh god.”

Arthur just stared at the figure sitting in the sleigh behind Merlin’s father. “It’s… that’s…” He pointed, but didn’t seem able to be any more coherent than that. “It’s…”

Santa was sitting in the sleigh, and beckoning them both over.

“I’m in so much trouble,” Merlin sighed. “Better get it over with.”

“I am dreaming,” Arthur breathed. “Or insane. I’m insane. Yes.”

But he got out of the car with Merlin, still staring, and walked over to the sleigh.

There were no lights on at all in their street. Merlin guessed that Santa had indulged in a little bit of extra magic to keep everyone there asleep while he visited. He was probably going to take Merlin away with him and that would be the end of Christmas with Arthur. Merlin had been starting to really look forward to it as well.

“Good work, boy,” Balinor called as Merlin approached. “You and your human did very well.”

Merlin expected to hear Arthur protesting about being called his human, but there was nothing forthcoming.

“Merlin, my dear boy,” Santa beamed. “Come and sit up here in the sleigh. You too, Arthur.”

“Santa knows my name!” Merlin heard Arthur whisper. Well of course Santa did. Santa knew everyone’s name and whether they’d been naughty or nice. Obviously Arthur had been very nice that night, helping Merlin deliver the presents. And perhaps they weren’t in trouble after all.

It was considerably warmer on the sleigh. Arthur’s expensive car had benefitted from a powerful heater and seats that were almost magically warm to sit on. But every time they’d opened the door or gone outside it had been pretty nippy.

“I’m on Santa’s sleigh!” Arthur whispered as he sat down next to Merlin. “ _Santa’s actual sleigh!_ ”

“Yes you are,” Santa told him kindly. “I wanted to meet the human who helped all those children to have a happy Christmas. A present from Santa is very special, you know? We infuse the gifts with love, all the way from Lapland.”

“Not the North Pole?” Arthur asked. He was staring at Santa wide-eyed like some child himself.

“That would be a little too cold even for me,” Santa pointed out. “Also as the actual pole is located in the Arctic Ocean under a shifting ice sheet it isn’t the best of locations. No grazing for the reindeer and nowhere to store the presents. So, Lapland it is, and we have a very efficient setup. Except tonight, when a rogue elf caused havoc.”

Merlin hung his head, ashamed. Evidently Santa was displeased with him after all.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was too slow.”

“It was my fault,” Arthur put in quickly. “Don’t blame Merlin. I woke up and grabbed him, I thought he was an intruder. Then it was too late for him to get back.”

Merlin felt a warm rush of affection for Arthur and his kindness. It was such a shame that soon they’d have to part and Merlin would never see him again. He gazed at Arthur fondly, drinking in those perfect features while he still could.

“I’m aware of what happened,” Santa told them gravely. “Elves do sometimes get left behind. And Merlin was doing just fine until that point. No, the rogue elf has already been dealt with. No child should ever go without a present. Leaving those gifts behind was unforgivable. Cenred is now demoted to cleaning out the reindeer stables, permanently. He’ll never be driving a sleigh again.”

“What about Merlin?” Arthur asked. “He didn’t do anything wrong so he still has his job, yes?”

“Ah,” Santa said. “Well, possibly.”

Merlin’s heart sank. He was probably going to join Cenred in mucking out the reindeer stables.

“Merlin struggles with his elven duties. Balinor and I thought perhaps we might try something else. He’s half-human, you see, Arthur.”

Arthur nodded very seriously. “I know. He seems to think his ears are small. Obviously he doesn’t have a very good mirror.”

Santa chuckled at that. “Ah, Arthur, I think you’ll be just perfect for what I have in mind. I know you’ve been struggling with your workload since taking over your father’s company. So, I’d like you to take Merlin on as your assistant. As you know, he has magic, so will be able to help you in ways that a human assistant can’t. And he’ll be a companion for you, someone that you can trust completely. What do you say?”

Arthur looked hopefully at Merlin. “We’re a good team. I do need an assistant and I’d really like to have you working with me. But you’d be leaving your home and family. What do you want to do?”

Merlin wanted to stay with Arthur. He also wanted to hug Santa for coming up with such a great idea. Somehow Merlin knew he wasn’t going to screw this new job up anywhere near as badly as he had all the elven tasks that he’d been given. There was something about Arthur that just felt so right, as if they fitted.

“I’d love to work with you!” he told Arthur, unable to hide his delight. “We’ll be great! And my dad’s a reindeer lord, he can bring the family down to visit any time!”

Balinor nodded confirmation of that. “You can come visit too. Maybe bring Arthur’s little nephew, I’m sure he’ll love riding to Lapland on a sleigh.”

“Do I get to come along too?” Arthur whispered to Merlin.

“If you want to!”

Judging by the excited expression on Arthur’s face, he definitely wanted to.

“Santa’s sleigh!” Arthur breathed happily.

“Marvellous!” Santa beamed at them both. “I’ll have one of the elves sort out some human ID, bank account, that sort of thing for you Merlin. Arthur can put you up until we find somewhere for you to live.”

“I have a spare room in my apartment,” Arthur confirmed. “Several, actually.” He was smiling hopefully back at Merlin. “I don’t mind house guests. The place is a bit big just for one person.”

Arthur really was the greatest. Merlin couldn’t resist hugging him. Arthur was warm and smelled so good, and best of all was happily hugging Merlin back.

Balinor coughed loudly and Merlin reluctantly let go of Arthur.

“Off you go, lads,” Balinor told them. “Enjoy your Christmas.”

“Oh, we will!” Arthur assured him as he and Merlin climbed out of the sleigh. “And don’t worry about Merlin, he’ll be fine with me. I’ll tell you how he gets on when we visit you. On the sleigh. Next month maybe?” he added hopefully.

“Maybe,” Balinor smiled. “Look after my boy. Now we have to go, the magic keeping the street asleep only lasts a short time. And your family are waking up.”

“Happy Christmas!” Santa called. “Ho ho ho!”

“What’s the _ho ho ho_ for?” Balinor grumbled, as he signalled to the reindeer. “Why do you even say that?”

“I’m Santa! It’s what I do!”

“Pfft I can remember when you were plain old Gaius elf and just got a lucky promotion. Ho ho ho doesn’t even mean anything! Hi, Kilgharrah! Away!”

And the sleigh lifted up into the sky, the magical reindeer galloping through the air and taking Santa back home.

“And what does hi mean? Hello? You’re saying hello Kilgharrah to get him to start up? _Really,_ Balinor? How does that make any sense either?”

The sound of Santa and Balinor bickering gradually faded into the distance

Merlin and Arthur stood side by side, watching the sleigh until it had vanished.

“I can’t believe I met Santa,” Arthur breathed. “And I’m going to see him at his home. This is turning into the best Christmas ever, Merlin!”

Which was good, because Arthur had looked so incredibly sad when Merlin first found him. Perhaps Merlin wasn’t so bad at being a Christmas elf after all? But all that was behind him now. Merlin was going to be working and living with Arthur and who knew what else? It was definitely Merlin’s best ever Christmas as well.

They headed back indoors, still trying to be quiet because it was very early.

“Is your sister going to mind me being here for Christmas?” Merlin asked.

“Morgana’s brought enough food in to feed a small army,” Arthur assured him, hanging their coats up in the hall. “And we have a few friends coming round for dinner, she’ll be glad of extra help to get it ready. Be warned, she’s really bossy.”

“Does it run in the family?” Merlin asked cheekily, following Arthur back into the living room.

“Shut up, Merlin.”

“That’s a yes then. Oh, I’m going to get bullied to death working for you, aren’t I?”

“You could always go back to Cenred and muck out the reindeer stables for the rest of your life,” Arthur told him. “Your choice!” He sat down on the sofa and smirked up at Merlin.

Fine. If Arthur wanted to be playful, Merlin could do that too.

Merlin sat down next to him, so close he was almost in Arthur’s lap. Then he used a little elf magic, and looked up. “Nice decorations,” he commented.

Arthur followed his gaze. There was now a little sprig of mistletoe hanging just above their heads. It was clearly magical, floating in mid-air. Arthur did not seem at all fazed by this occurrence.

“I suppose it would be rude not to make use of it,” Arthur murmured, leaning in.

“Bad luck,” Merlin agreed, closing the distance between them.

Arthur tasted of presents and promises and all things good. He slipped his arms around Merlin, pulling him close and deepening the kiss. Merlin felt a warm hand pressing on his back, fingering the hem of his shirt. But there was no chance for the exploration to go any further because just then the lounge door opened and Merlin met Arthur’s sister for the first time.

“Good god, Arthur! No unwrapping your presents this early in the morning!”

Guiltily, Arthur and Merlin sprang apart, Merlin quickly making the mistletoe vanish.

“Um… Morgana, this is Merlin. He’s my new assistant,” Arthur explained, getting to his feet. “Merlin, this is my sister Morgana.”

“Nice to meet you,” Merlin offered. Morgana regarded him suspiciously for a moment, then shrugged and shook the hand Merlin was holding out.

“I won’t ask what you were assisting my brother with when I walked in.”

Merlin shuffled uncomfortably. “Umm…”

“Leave him alone,” Arthur put in. “He’s here for Christmas, be nice.”

“While the two of you are naughty?”

“Yes.”

Arthur really wasn’t helping, Merlin thought.

“And why are you dressed all in green?” Morgana asked, frowning at Merlin. “Did you and Arthur get drunk and think it was St Patrick’s Day?”

“Hah! That’s what I asked him too!” Arthur confirmed smugly. “He thinks he’s dressed like a Christmas elf!”

Morgana rolled her eyes. “Merlin, elves have pointy ears and little pointed caps and… why am I even trying to explain this to you? I need a coffee, it’s too early for this. Arthur, make sure Mordred doesn’t open any gifts until I’m back and if he does then make a note of who it’s from. Last year he tore into them like a little hurricane and I didn’t know who to thank for anything!”

Right on cue, Mordred came running in.

“Santa’s been!” he cried. “Look, he ate pie! And carrots all gone!”

Merlin had left the carrots on the floor in Arthur’s car because they’d been heavy and uncomfortable in his pocket. But Mordred wasn’t to know that. They had better make sure the carrots were back in the kitchen before Mordred next travelled in Arthur’s car. But Mordred had other things on his mind.

“Teddy! From Santa!”

Mordred had spotted the little bear that Merlin had given Arthur and immediately pounced on it and cuddled it close. Merlin could see the love spell working its magic on the toddler.

“I think one of his elves left it there for you,” Arthur told him, glancing at Merlin. “It’s a special bear.”

“Teddy!” Mordred repeated. He pressed his face into the soft fur, smiling happily.

“Did you bring that for him?” Morgana whispered to Merlin.

Merlin nodded, not wanting to admit that he’d actually given it to Arthur. Mordred clearly needed the bear more than any of them.

“Well thank you. That’s the happiest I’ve seen him look in weeks.” And then she gave Merlin a little kiss on the cheek. “Arthur too. I guess you’ll make a good assistant, or whatever it is you’ll be doing for Arthur. You can stay.” And then she headed off towards the kitchen.

“Double espresso for me!” Arthur called after her. Morgana’s response was predictable, if not exactly polite.

Arthur settled back down on the sofa next to Merlin. “She loves me really,” he insisted, draping an arm around Merlin.

Merlin gazed at Arthur, the kind man who had helped a complete stranger and made sure all those children weren’t disappointed at Christmas. He could understand exactly why anyone would love him.

“Who wouldn’t?” Merlin found himself saying.

Arthur looked far too pleased at that. Really, Merlin had no choice but to kiss him again because if he didn’t then who knew what arrogant, smug comment was going to come out of that deliciously kissable mouth? Best to be on the safe side. Arthur was pretty wonderful, after all.

Morgana didn’t share that opinion when she returned with coffee and mince pies. She found her son in the middle of a sea of paper and unlabelled toys, whilst his uncle was completely failing to keep an eye on him. But Merlin’s magic sorted that out very quickly with a list they’d supposedly made.

“You’re going to be brilliant at this assistant thing,” Arthur whispered. “Magic, even.”

Merlin just snuggled down on the sofa contentedly and ate his mince pie.

Arthur, he thought, might even be right.


End file.
